{"doi":"10.1126/science.adh3428","title":"Songbird species that display more-complex vocal learning are better problem-solvers and have larger brains","abstract":"<jats:p>Complex vocal learning, a critical component of human spoken language, has been assumed to be associated with more-advanced cognitive abilities. Tests of this hypothesis between individuals within a species have been inconclusive and have not been done across species. In this work, we measured an array of cognitive skills—namely, problem-solving, associative and reversal learning, and self-control—across 214 individuals of 23 bird species, including 19 wild-caught songbird species, two domesticated songbird species, and two wild-caught vocal nonlearning species. We found that the greater the vocal learning abilities of a species, the better their problem-solving skills and the relatively larger their brains. These conclusions held when controlling for noncognitive variables and phylogeny. Our results support a hypothesis of shared genetic and cognitive mechanisms between vocal learning, problem-solving, and bigger brains in songbirds.</jats:p>","journal":"Science","year":2023,"id":40671,"datarank":1.004852393917353,"base_score":3.7612001156935624,"endowment":3.7612001156935624,"self_citation_contribution":0.5641800173540344,"citation_network_contribution":0.4406723765633187,"self_endowment_contribution":0.5641800173540344,"citer_contribution":0.4406723765633187,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":42,"citer_count":39,"citers_with_citation_signal":25,"citers_with_endowment":25,"datacite_reuse_total":1,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":197176,"name":"Mélanie Couture","orcid":"0000-0002-6169-8225","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":21329,"name":"Erich  D. Jarvis","orcid":"0000-0001-8931-5049","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":35651,"name":"Jean‐Nicolas Audet","orcid":"0000-0002-0511-183X","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"base_score":3.7612001156935624,"endowment":3.7612001156935624,"datacite_reuse_total":1,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"37708288","pmcid":"PMC13020620","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4386736815","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Howard Hughes Medical Institute","grant_id":"","title":null},{"funder_name":"Howard Hughes Medical Institute","grant_id":"","title":null}],"total_grants":2,"fwci":10.6284,"citation_percentile":0.98942065,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2023,"count":1},{"year":2024,"count":15},{"year":2025,"count":20},{"year":2026,"count":6}],"oa_status":"green","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13020620/","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13020620/","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.adh3428","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh3428","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37708288","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13020620","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13020620?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"}],"fields_of_study":["Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior","Animal Behavior and Reproduction","Avian ecology and behavior","Medicine","Biology","Psychology","Animals","Humans","Brain","Cognition","Phylogeny","Problem Solving","Songbirds"],"mesh_terms":["Animals","Brain","Cognition","Humans","Phylogeny","Problem Solving","Songbirds"],"keywords":["Songbird","Vocal learning","Cognition","Domestication","Vocal communication","Psychology","Cognitive psychology","Biology","Associative learning","Evolutionary biology","Communication","Ecology","Neuroscience"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Quality Education"}],"linked_datasets":[{"doi":"10.5061/dryad.tb2rbp06n","title":"Data from: Songbird species that display more-complex vocal learning are better problem-solvers and have larger brains","publisher":"Dryad","resource_type":"Dataset"}],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-06-12T10:18:34.997011Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}